Ball grid array (BGA) connections may include a plurality of solder joints used to physically and electrically couple a die package (sometimes referred to as a semiconductor package or a package) or a socket with a circuit board. Solder joint cracks at the corners or periphery of the BGA may be caused by shock, vibration, and/or bending. When such solder joint cracks appear, they may result in a disconnection of electrical signals or the power path between the die package or socket and the board, which may cause system failure.
Legacy die packages or sockets may be coupled with a board via non-critical-to-function (NCTF) solder joints that serve as sacrificial joints in the BGA. Specifically, these NCTF solder joints may not be electrically or communicatively coupled with an active pin of the die package (either directly or via the socket), and so may not be used to carry electrical or communicative signals. Rather, the NCTF solder joints may be placed in areas of the BGA that are more likely to experience solder joint cracks. Thus, if such cracks happen, they may occur at the NCTF solder joints rather than a solder joint of the BGA that is carrying electrical or communication signals. As a result, the disconnection of electrical signals or the power path may not occur.
However, the growing number of NCTF solder joints may result in a reduction of space for solder joints in the BGA that carry electrical or communicative signals (i.e., critical-to-function (CTF) solder joints). Additionally, as pitch size of the BGA decreases, it may be more difficult to isolate the cracks to the NCTF solder joints and so CTF solder joints may still experience a failure condition such as cracking if a NCTF solder joint does.